Information AboutDanny Ainge |
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AMATEUR BASKETBALL AND PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CAREER Talented in multiple sports, Ainge starred in high school on his Football team and led North Eugene High School to back-to-back state basketball championships in 1976-77, earning all-state honors both years. He also was named to the 1977 ''Parade'' magazine High School All-America team. Ainge played basketball at Brigham Young University , after which he was selected in baseball's 1977 amateur draft by Toronto. He made it to the majors with the Blue Jays in 1979 , but was able to amass only modest numbers for that team. In 1981 , after receiving the John R. Wooden Award as college basketball player of the year, Ainge was chosen in the 1981 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics, who had to buy out Ainge's contract from the Blue Jays after enduring a legal battle over the rights to it. NBA CAREER Not everything went right for Ainge in basketball at first. According to Larry Bird in his autobiography ''Drive'', Celtics players used to make fun of Ainge's initial shooting percentage, some joking that his batting average of .220 was better than his shooting percentage on the basketball court. But Ainge became one of the important pieces of the team that won the NBA title in 1984 and 1986 , and a major helper of the middle to late 1980s Celtics teams. In , he scored nine points in the extra period to tie an all-time NBA record for most points in an Overtime during a playoff game. The Phoenix Suns, a team that had been looking for a new identity, were inaugurating a new home ( America West Arena ), a new coach ( Paul Westphal ) a new-look logo and uniform and a new superstar ( Charles Barkley ) when they signed free agent Ainge prior to the 1992- 1993 NBA season, figuring that his experience would help the team during the playoffs. Ainge responded by scoring 11.8 points per game as the Suns went 62-20 that year, only to lose to the Bulls, also in six games. Ainge retired after the 1994 - 1995 season. POST-PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL CAREER While a player with the Suns, Ainge opened a national chain of hat stores, '' The Hat Club '', which he has since sold. He has worked at a number of charity organizations and has held a number of jobs since retiring, including head coach of the Suns, broadcaster for TNT , and, from 2003 on, executive director of basketball operations for the Celtics. His exit from the Suns coaching job was a sudden resignation; he cited a need to spend more time with his family. He was replaced by assistant coach Scott Skiles. Ainge has been controversial in his role as a Celtics executive, trading popular players such as Antoine Walker and having personality conflicts with head coach Jim O'Brien that led to the departure of O'Brien to the Philadelphia 76ers (a job he would also depart from a year later). Walker has since returned to the team, and later traded again. The Celtics have gotten younger and more talented, but the Celtics have not improved in the win column. However, Ainge has kept the support of former head coach Red Auerbach , still employed by the team as a TRIVIA
PERSONAL LIFE Ainge and his wife, Michelle, currently make Wellesley, Massachusetts their home; they have six children. He is a member of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints . His son, Austin, currently plays basketball at BYU and was an Honorable Mention at the All-Mountain West Conference during the 2004-05 season. His nephew, Erik Ainge , is a rising athletic star as well. He is expected to start as quarterback on the football team at the University Of Tennessee as a junior after splitting time last year. STATISTICS Baseball YEAR TEAM AGE G AB R H 2B 3B HR HR% RBI BB SO SB CS AVG SLG OBA OPS 1979 BlueJays 20 87 308 26 73 7 1 2 0.65 19 12 58 1 0 .237 .286 .269 .554 1980 BlueJays 21 38 111 11 27 6 1 0 0.00 4 2 29 3 0 .243 .315 .263 .578 1981 BlueJays 22 86 246 20 46 6 2 0 0.00 14 23 41 8 5 .187 .228 .258 .486 TOTALS 211 665 57 146 19 4 2 0.30 37 37 128 12 5 .220 .269 .264 .533 LG AVERAGE 700 91 185 31 5 17 2.37 86 66 94 13 8 .264 .393 .329 .722 POS AVERAGE 698 92 184 29 6 13 1.80 77 65 86 19 9 .264 .377 .327 .704 YEAR TEAM RC RCAA RCAP OWP RC/G TB EBH ISO SEC BPA IBB HBP SAC SF GIDP OUTS PA POS 1979 BlueJays 23 -23 -20 .214 2.46 88 10 .049 .091 .293 1 2 7 2 8 252 331 2B 1980 BlueJays 9 -6 -6 .280 2.76 35 7 .072 .117 .333 0 1 1 0 3 88 115 CF 1981 BlueJays 15 -21 -22 .162 1.88 56 8 .041 .146 .288 1 1 4 1 5 215 275 3B TOTALS 47 -50 -48 .204 2.29 179 25 .050 .116 .298 2 4 12 3 16 555 721 LG AVERAGE 91 0 0 .500 4.42 275 52 .129 .232 .430 5 4 8 7 17 555 786 POS AVERAGE 88 -3 0 .480 4.30 263 48 .113 .221 .423 5 3 11 7 14 555 784
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